BLM FAQs
WHAT IS BLACK LIVES MATTER?
“Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives” - BLM
HOW DOES BLM APPLY TO ALTERNATIVE FASHION?
Simply put Black people exist in alternative fashion spaces, and while representation of that presence is diminished severely in the global community its importance to recognize the racial bias and systematic oppression that occurs in society. This greatly impacts Black alternatives and the movement is to create a safer environment for those judged solely on the color of their skin.
WHY DON’T I SEE MORE BLACK ALTERNATIVES IN THE COMMUNITY?
Representation in alternative fashion is severely low. While the community is made up of several diverse backgrounds, social media and alternative brands focus on one look to further showcase these styles. It’s not that Black alternative fashion is absent it’s just not as supported in these spaces that rely heavily on one look for an aesthetic.
HOW CAN I SUPPORT BLM IN ALTERNATIVE FASHION COMMUNITY?
It all begins with acknowledging that the movement is important. Work towards encouraging, amplifying, and uplifting Black alternative fashionistas in all styles. Learn from the resources provided by Black alternative fashion icons.
“My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you.”
– Audre Lorde
BOOKS & ARTICLES
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton
Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet A. Washington
Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-First Century by Dorothy E. Roberts
VIDEOS & PODCASTS
Hoodrat to Headwrap
A Decolonized Podcast for lovers on the margins, join your resident sexuality educator Ericka Hart and Deep East Oakland's very own Ebony Donnley, as we game give, dismantle white supremacy and kiki in the cosmos somewhere between radical hood epistemological black queer love ethics, pop culture, house plants and a sea of books.
No Justice
No Peace
“We affirm our humanity, our contributions to this society, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.” - BLM
#WhatMatters2020
BLM’s #WhatMatters2020 is a campaign aimed to maximize the impact of the BLM movement by galvanizing BLM supporters and allies to the polls in the 2020 U.S Presidential Election to build collective power and ensure candidates are held accountable for the issues that systematically and disproportionately impact Black and under-served communities across the nation. - BLM
Black Women Radicals
Black Women Radicals (BWR) is a Black feminist advocacy organization dedicated to uplifting and cultivating Black women’s radical political activism.
Rooted in intersectional and transnational feminisms and Womanisms, we are committed to empowering Black radical women activists and centering their political and intellectual contributions to the field of Black Politics across time, space, and place in Africa and in the African Diaspora. We have been here and always been. #blackwomenradicals